cendancy over a part of Arabia; but this domination of a
black people over Asiatics was a fact so unusual, and produced
so strong an impression,* that this seems to have been
the principal incitement to that reaction which not only repelled
the encroachment of Africans on Asia, but spread the
arms and the dominion of the Arabs over a great part of the
civilized world.
There is no doubt that many Mohammedan nations in
Africa pretend to an Arabian origin, whose ancestry is either
purely African or but slightly mingled with Asiatic blood;
but it is also well established, that in the first centuries after
the propagation of Islam, parts of many Arabian tribes really
migrated. Some of them kept their stock unmingled with
that of the Africans, while others became blended, and lost,
in a great measure, their distinctive characters. There are no
documents extant, at least there are none easily accessible in
this country, which would suffice for an enumeration of the
Arabian tribes who have migrated from the Hedjaz, and for
their subsequent history; nor, if I could procure the means of
drawing up such a catalogue, would it be interesting to the
majority of my readers, or within the scope of my present
work. I shall confine myself to a brief notice of the most
extensive Arabian races in Africa, of which I shall collect
such particulars as may tend to illustrate their physical history.
S e c t io n II.—Of the Arabian Tribes inhabiting Tarts of
Atla/ntica and of the Sahara.
The various tribes of Arabs who are spread over the wide region
of Mauritania and the Sahara are enumerated by Leo Afri-
canus under three heads, according to their genealogy. These
three principal divisong are termed Cachin, Hillel,and Machil.f
“ The Cachin are subdivided into three nations, or tribes, Etheg,
Sumait, and Sahid. The most noble and famous Arabs are of
the family of Etheg, to whom Almansor gave the regions of
Duccaja and Tedlis. They can furnish,” says Leo, u at any
* See passages cited above in page 141. •j* T. Leo Afric. lib. i. p, 12,
time, a hundred thousand warriors, chiefly cavalry. The Arabs
termed Sumait occupy the Lybian desert opposite Tripoli ;
they levy eighty thousand warriprs, chiefly infantry. The
Sahid inhabit Lybia, near Guargala, and partly dwell in Fez,
and upon Mount Atlas. The other two great divisions, Hillel
and Machil, are supposed to be Ismaylites and Kahtanites.
The Hillel, or Hélai, include the Benihemir, or Beni-Amer,*
who inhabit Tremezin and Oran, the Muslim, or Moslemm,
near Cape Bojador, and the tribe El-IIharitz. The Machil,
or Maghylah* comprehend a great number of small tribes
spread through the deserfs—tl^p iSebayn, or Aoulad-Aby-
Seba, the Delemyn, or Aoulad-Deleym, or Wadelims, in the
neighbourhood of ( Cape Blanc, the tribe El-Qüadayal or
Ludaÿa, in possession of Oulatah and Ouadan and the
Barbousch.”
According ta M. d’Avesac, who has. taken much pains to
trace the names of these tribes in the Arabian Genealogies,
and tp;correct them when faulty,* in which attempt he has depended
a good deal upon conjecture and the resources of his
own ingenuity-^rthe races of Arabs above enumerated are all of
pure blood. They are supposed to have, emigrated from the
East in the first ages after the Hegira. The dialect which
they speak is a peculiar one, and is termed the Western or
Maghrébin Arabie. |g
Besides tEe tribes of pure blood already enumerated, there
are others of mixed breed, blended more or less with the T6uè
aryk, or native Berber people, who are confounded under the
name of Ssanhaga, or Zanaga. The principal of these are the
Terârzah, or Trarzas ; Berâknah, or Bracknas ; Douyseh, or
Doviches. Many of the Terârzah inhabit the deserts to the
northward of the Senegal : to the Berâknah belong the Moors
of Ludamar, known to Mungô Park, and the Géglbah, among
whom M. Cailljé lived. In the groupe of Douyseh are many
tribes, as the Houlahs, or Bouseif ; the Kountahs ; and the
Zaoust, who live near Araouan. Tbey are spread over the
deserts northward of the Niger and the Senegal from the Atlantic
to Hausa and Kashna : their country forms a zone, or
* Helal and Amer are among the descendants of Adnan, the Arabian patriarch
of the Ishmaelite family. . See Sale’s Arabian Genealogies.